Mark Twain, the World, and Me

Mark Twain, the World, and Me PDF Author: Susan K. Harris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780817392833
Category : Americans
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"Winner of the Elizabeth Agee Prize in American literary studies Susan K. Harris retraced the journey of the literary icon as he made his way around the British Empire on his infamous 1895-1896 lecture tour. Part biography, part literary criticism, and part travel memoir, Harris' study offers a unique take on one of America's most widely studied writers while attempting to situate Mark Twain's social commentary within a contemporary worldview. As Harris makes her way through Australia, India, and South Africa-seeing for herself the people and places Twain experienced-she also undertakes a journey of self-exploration and what her relationship with Mark Twain means. After his disastrous investment in the Paige Compositor typesetting machine, Mark Twain found himself bankrupt. Determined to repay his debts, he undertook a thirteen-month lecture tour around the British Empire-visiting Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, India, Mauritius, and South Africa. After the tour, Twain published Following the Equator, a travelogue in which he recorded his observations and social commentary on the places he visited. Although Twain was generally known to criticize racism, bigotry, and imperialism, his financial situation meant he was willing to write to his audience's expectations in order to sell more books. This lead to the imbuement of Following the Equator with the racial and cultural biases of the era. Following the Equator went on to be a success, virtually propelling him out of debt, but now contemporary scholars and readers are left to make sense of Twain's often inconsistent observations, to figure out how to situate Twain's legacy in a new era. 'Mark Twain, the World, and Me' aims to do just that. More than 100 years after Twain's journey, Susan K. Harris follows him through Australia, India, and South America, tracing the themes and issues present in Following the Equator, addressing them head on, and using them as an occasion for comparing his era to our own. Her account covers a variety of topics, such as the conundrum that Hinduism presented to Protestant Americans of the 19th century, the clash of civilizations between Australian Aborigines and white settlers, the environmental devastation brought on by settler eradication policies, and more"--

Mark Twain, the World, and Me

Mark Twain, the World, and Me PDF Author: Susan K. Harris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780817392833
Category : Americans
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Winner of the Elizabeth Agee Prize in American literary studies Susan K. Harris retraced the journey of the literary icon as he made his way around the British Empire on his infamous 1895-1896 lecture tour. Part biography, part literary criticism, and part travel memoir, Harris' study offers a unique take on one of America's most widely studied writers while attempting to situate Mark Twain's social commentary within a contemporary worldview. As Harris makes her way through Australia, India, and South Africa-seeing for herself the people and places Twain experienced-she also undertakes a journey of self-exploration and what her relationship with Mark Twain means. After his disastrous investment in the Paige Compositor typesetting machine, Mark Twain found himself bankrupt. Determined to repay his debts, he undertook a thirteen-month lecture tour around the British Empire-visiting Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, India, Mauritius, and South Africa. After the tour, Twain published Following the Equator, a travelogue in which he recorded his observations and social commentary on the places he visited. Although Twain was generally known to criticize racism, bigotry, and imperialism, his financial situation meant he was willing to write to his audience's expectations in order to sell more books. This lead to the imbuement of Following the Equator with the racial and cultural biases of the era. Following the Equator went on to be a success, virtually propelling him out of debt, but now contemporary scholars and readers are left to make sense of Twain's often inconsistent observations, to figure out how to situate Twain's legacy in a new era. 'Mark Twain, the World, and Me' aims to do just that. More than 100 years after Twain's journey, Susan K. Harris follows him through Australia, India, and South America, tracing the themes and issues present in Following the Equator, addressing them head on, and using them as an occasion for comparing his era to our own. Her account covers a variety of topics, such as the conundrum that Hinduism presented to Protestant Americans of the 19th century, the clash of civilizations between Australian Aborigines and white settlers, the environmental devastation brought on by settler eradication policies, and more"--

Letters From The Earth

Letters From The Earth PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Youcanprint
ISBN: 8892658379
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before him rose the black night of Space, like a wall. His mighty bulk towered rugged and mountain-like into the zenith, and His divine head blazed there like a distant sun. At His feet stood three colossal figures, diminished to extinction, almost, by contrast -- archangels -- their heads level with His ankle-bone. When the Creator had finished thinking, He said, "I have thought. Behold!" He lifted His hand, and from it burst a fountain-spray of fire, a million stupendous suns, which clove the blackness and soared, away and away and away, diminishing in magnitude and intensity as they pierced the far frontiers of Space, until at last they were but as diamond nailheads sparkling under the domed vast roof of the universe. At the end of an hour the Grand Council was dismissed. They left the Presence impressed and thoughtful, and retired to a private place, where they might talk with freedom. None of the three seemed to want to begin, though all wanted somebody to do it.

Mark Twain’s Book of Animals

Mark Twain’s Book of Animals PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520271521
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
"For those unaware—as I was until I read this book—that Mark Twain was one of America's early animal advocates, Shelley Fisher Fishkin's collection of his writings on animals will come as a revelation. Many of these pieces are as fresh and lively as when they were first written, and it's wonderful to have them gathered in one place." —Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and The Life You Can Save “A truly exhilarating work. Mark Twain's animal-friendly views would not be out of place today, and indeed, in certain respects, Twain is still ahead of us: claiming, correctly, that there are certain degraded practices that only humans inflict on one another and upon other animals. Fishkin has done a splendid job: I cannot remember reading something so consistently excellent."—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Face on Your Plate "Shelley Fisher Fishkin has given us the lifelong arc of the great man's antic, hilarious, and subtly profound explorations of the animal world, and she's guided us through it with her own trademark wit and acumen. Dogged if she hasn't." —Ron Powers, author of Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain and Mark Twain: A Life

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 048648923X
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
"Familiarity breeds contempt — and children." "When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear." "Heaven for climate. Hell for company." This attractive paperback gift edition of the renowned American humorist's epigrams and witticisms features hundreds of quips on life, love, history, culture, travel, and other topics from his fiction, essays, letters, and autobiography.

God's Arbiters

God's Arbiters PDF Author: Susan K. Harris
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199831629
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
When the U.S. liberated the Philippines from Spanish rule in 1898, the exploit was hailed at home as a great moral victory, an instance of Uncle Sam freeing an oppressed country from colonial tyranny. The next move, however, was hotly contested: should the U.S. annex the archipelago? The disputants did agree on one point: that the United States was divinely appointed to bring democracy--and with it, white Protestant culture--to the rest of the world. They were, in the words of U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge, "God's arbiters," a civilizing force with a righteous role to play on the world stage. Mining letters, speeches, textbooks, poems, political cartoons and other sources, Susan K. Harris examines the role of religious rhetoric and racial biases in the battle over annexation. She offers a provocative reading both of the debates' religious framework and of the evolution of Christian national identity within the U.S. The book brings to life the personalities who dominated the discussion, figures like the bellicose Beveridge and the segregationist Senator Benjamin Tillman. It also features voices from outside U.S. geopolitical boundaries that responded to the Americans' venture into global imperialism: among them England's "imperial" poet Rudyard Kipling, Nicaragua's poet/diplomat Rubén Darío, and the Philippines' revolutionary leaders Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini. At the center of this dramatis personae stands Mark Twain, an influential partisan who was, for many, the embodiment of America. Twain had supported the initial intervention but quickly changed his mind, arguing that the U.S. decision to annex the archipelago was a betrayal of the very principles the U.S. claimed to promote. Written with verve and animated by a wide range of archival research, God's Arbiters reveals the roots of current debates over textbook content, evangelical politics, and American exceptionalism-shining light on our own times as it recreates the culture surrounding America's global mission at the turn into the twentieth century.

Why We Took the Car

Why We Took the Car PDF Author: Wolfgang Herrndorf
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 0545586364
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
A beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story from an award-winning, bestselling German author making his American debut. Mike Klingenberg doesn't get why people think he's boring. Sure, he doesn't have many friends. (Okay, zero friends.) And everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class. And he's never invited to parties - including the gorgeous Tatiana's party of the year.Andre Tschichatschow, aka Tschick (not even the teachers can pronounce his name), is new in school, and a whole different kind of unpopular. He always looks like he's just been in a fight, his clothes are tragic, and he never talks to anyone.But one day Tschick shows up at Mike's house out of the blue. Turns out he wasn't invited to Tatiana's party either, and he's ready to do something about it. Forget the popular kids: Together, Mike and Tschick are heading out on a road trip. No parents, no map, no destination. Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Will meet some crazy people and get into serious trouble? Definitely. But will they ever be called boring again? Not a chance.

Mark Twain's Book for Bad Boys and Girls

Mark Twain's Book for Bad Boys and Girls PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: M J F Books
ISBN: 9781567315318
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This is the first-ever compilation of Twain's wise and witty essays, sketches, and stories on the joys and rewards of misbehavior. With themes including "honesty is not always the best policy, ""the wicked are not always punished," and "virtue is often its only reward," this is a charming treasury that will warm the hearts of bad boys and girls (of any age)everywhere

Life As I Find It

Life As I Find It PDF Author: Charles Neider
Publisher: Cooper Square Press
ISBN: 1461702526
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
Mark Twain's hilarity and irreverence shine through in this impeccably chosen collection.

Mark Twain's Letters

Mark Twain's Letters PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Authors, American
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description


Mark Twain

Mark Twain PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description